1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to plumbing accessories and the like, and particularly to a drain strainer and filter for removable installation in various household and other drains.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drain strainers comprising baskets of perforated material for removable installation in kitchen and bathroom sink drains serve to prevent the blockage or clogging of such household drains with food, hair, and/or other solids. These strainers generally do a reasonably good job of retaining such solids to prevent their traveling farther down into the sink trap or other relatively inaccessible area, but the relatively large pores found in the typical sink strainer still allow a fair amount of particulate matter to flow through the perforations and into the trap, where they may build up.
In many cases a finer filtration system than the relatively porous sink drain basket is desirable. Accordingly, some devices for sink drains have been constructed to house a relatively fine mesh screen or other filter therein. While this serves the purpose of providing better filtration than the conventional porous basket, none of the sink filtration devices of which the client is aware include an adjustable drain stopper or plug with the device. A person using such a conventional drain filter must remove the filter and its housing from the drain to access the separate drain plug, to open or stop the drain as desired. Moreover, most such devices with relatively fine filters comprise metal screens or the like that must be cleaned and reused. Provision of a disposable fiber filter would greatly simplify the use of such a device.
Thus, a drain strainer and filter solving the aforementioned problems is desired.